13 INJURED...AND CONFUSED

Gusion woke up feeling strained and lightheaded, but he got up from the infirmary bed anyway.

He looked down at what he was wearing; he was nowhere near alright.

Under his white lose shirt and trousers were bandages wrapped around all over his shoulders down to his waist. His belts and sheaths were laid at the bedside table along with his armor.

But he felt like he couldn't lift his arm high enough to change into them alone. So he went outside, limping as he felt a searing pain in his left side every time he took a step.

The corridors of the Monastery of Light were empty and silent as how it had been for the last days he had been there. He knew more than thirty people lived there for their demon hunting trainings but he barely get past them in the hallways except during lunchtime.

He wondered what happened to the City of Scholars. He felt irritated with himself to pass out that easily in the middle of a battle.

He headed to the library first, where he guessed were the others at the moment. He seemed to have realized that it was Rafaela, Granger and Alucard's place when they were planning something.

He had just gotten in the corridor leading to the library when he spotted a glimpse of violet at the side of the corridor near the door leading to the balcony.

The Lady Guinevere. She was back to wearing her violet gown, and seeing how she tiptoed to prop her elbows over a high arched window and get her head closer to it assured him that she was alright. She seemed to be too focused on pressing her ear near the window that she did not notice him approach behind her.

"They spotted more in the Azrya Woodlands and the Dark Forest. They're attacking everywhere." It was Alucard's voice he heard from outside the window where the balcony was.

Gusion peeked over Guinevere's shoulder and saw Granger and Alucard talking in the balcony, their brows furrowed and their eyes dead serious.

"They're weakening them in their territories so they couldn't respond readily upon the Princess' call."

Alucard nodded. "It seems like that."

"Then it shouldn't be long when they will come here."

Guinevere grunted and stood on her heels, yelping and backing against the window as she got a glance of him standing a few feet away.

He merely stared at her. Now that she had faced his direction, he could see bandages overlapping from under her corset. She also lost her long violet gloves that usually covered her arms, and it was his first time seeing them bare. In replacement for them were more bandages in her the arm on the side where the boulder hit her hard.

The bare one looked lean and fair but also had fading bruises here and there.

A second later, she composed herself and stood straight.

"You're awake." Her voice now sounded cold, but her face looked guilty and she couldn't look at him straight in the eyes.

"Yes, I am."

She did not answer, but stared at his face that it made him uncomfortable.

"What?" He asked.

"They told me about what you did. Did you think I would forgive you if you do that?"

"I didn't." He simply responded. "I was too focused on getting that boulder off of you to think about that."

She looked away, clearly not expecting that kind of reply from him. She turned to the window's direction again.

"Well, you're not supposed to be walking around with those injuries not fully healed yet."

"Hark who's talking." He countered and joined her in the window. "So why are you eavesdropping?"

"Because" she scooted a foot away from him. "they won't talk about it when I'm around. And they've been having errands I couldn't know of, mostly at night. They've been like that for days."

"Days? How many days was I out exactly?"

Guinevere gave him a ridiculed glare. "Days? You've been out for nearly a week."

Gusion couldn't believe he wasted that much time in bed. But before he could even rant about it, he saw the two men in the balcony walking back in.

He grabbed Guinevere's head despite her violent protest about not laying a hand on her hair, and pushed them down to hide.

"They're coming back in." He whispered.

"We have to go." She grabbed his wrist and sneaked away along the halls by their bent waist, getting inside the nearest open room they could find.

Guinevere looked out through the slits of the door whether the two had passed by already, but Gusion couldn't help but look down at her hand which were still wrapped around his wrist.

Feeling her palm against his skin without his armor and gloves felt warmer than before. He seemed to have gotten so used to his protective gear that he was now making a big deal of a common skinship.

Guinevere must have realized he was staring because she hastily let go of him as if his wrist had just gone too hot to touch, making him lift his gaze up to her face.

She walked into the room and looked around the room, and he followed her gaze.

The middle of the room was cleared for weapon training, but framed paintings were hanged on one side of the wall to their left and to its other side leaned a tilted shelf taller than Gusion and wide enough for its other side to end at the center of the room stood with different guns and swords stacked in them, the users too busy to put them back in order. Over them were about five jars with delicate designs about half the size of Gusion's height, though they could not figure out what the jars were doing in a weapons room. The target board hanged across them with different kinds of daggers displayed just a couple feet away.

"Ahh. That reminds me." Guinevere took off the belt of the sheathed sword from her waist and held it out to him.

But he merely stared at it and at her, refusing to receive it.

"It's useless and heavy."

"Then you should've said that the time I gave it to you." Gusion headed past her and into the shelved with weapons in them.

He took a gleaming dagger and ran a finger across its cold blade.

"I'd only realized recently."

"Then you shouldn't have brought it along with you."

"Can you just quietly take it?"

"No. It'll be useful one day." He said nonchalantly, not bothering to look at her. "And I know you're doing that because you're upset with me."

"I am not upset."

"Then stop being childish."

Since he met her, he had always looked up at how straightforward and confident she was. Just like how others described her, she was opinionated and could always argue her way to her stand.

But sometimes, she could get persistent. Too persistent. Just like right now.

"Childish?" Guinevere repeated, her tone rising heatedly. "You dare say that to me? In that bored tone?"

Gusion lifted up his gaze to her this time. She sounded dangerous, like she was about to do something threatening.

To his surprise, she unsheathed the sword and pointed it to him.

"Lady Guinevere." Gusion muttered as he let go of the dagger he was examining, the tip of his own sword pointed an inch away from his neck.

He backed away, his back pressing against the shelf that it rocked in its tilted stand.

For a few seconds he stood still, trying to figure out which was sharper, the blade pointed at his neck or Guinevere's green gaze at him.

In a swift movement, he stepped sideward to get himself away from being cornered and came behind her, not realizing that he had just taken support off the shelf.

Just when Guinevere turned to his direction, the shelf started to lose balance and started to lean forward.

He grabbed her by the wrist quite strongly that she let go of the sword and pulled her towards him. She bumped right into his chest, the sudden additional weight sent him stumbling backwards, landing on his back with her over him.

He saw the shelf slowly collapsing and just had time to roll them both over before swords and daggers started hitting the floor where they had been a second ago, grunting as he strained his broken ribs in the swift movements.

He was now over her, and he covered their heads with his arms as the jars hit the floor first, its broken pieces scattered all around the floor. He pursed his lips to suppress a grunt as he ducked his head against Guinevere's shoulders as a deafening bang came and clattered as a hundred weapons hit the floor followed by the shelf itself, dust flying at every direction at the impact.

When it was all over, he planted his hands against the floor and lifted his head up, groaning. The first thing he saw was Guinevere's green eyes, looking round and panicked under him.

It made him stare at her, really stared at her and started noticing the tiny details; how thick her lashes were that they created shadows under her eyes, how her eyes had the same hue as the emerald gem she had in her neck, how she smelled like the flower violet, and how her lips were slightly open that it was all he could see at the moment.

He was reminded at their argument right before they headed to the Monastery, when he asked her if she thought he could get his way into her favor in the engagement of their families.

He asked about it to ease her anger, but also because it had crossed his mind more than once.

The idea that maybe he could be good enough to qualify among the Paxleys who could tie their connection with the Baroques.

But he had always pushed the thought away at the back of his mind, knowing how ridiculous the idea was.

But staring at her that time brought the thought uo to the surface again, making him even more curious.

Her startled eyes turned soft as they stared back at him, studying every inch of his face, the same way he saw how they stared at something that confused but fascinated her at the same time.

Her eyes were too mesmerizing to stare at that he found himself leaning forward, his heart racing as he thought of how warm her lips could be against his..

He leaned in, 3 inches away...2 inches away...1 inch away...

He seemed to feel a hundred butterflies fluttering its wings inside his stomach.

He closed his eyes when she was just a breathe away...

He could feel her warm breath against his face and-

"What was that-?!"

Gusion quickly got off Guinevere who hastily sat up as soon as the door swung and Granger barged in, both of them grunting loud in chorus by the sudden movement of their injuries.

"What in the world happened here?" Granger blurted out, looking around.

Everything in the room seemed to have been brought down, the floor was filled with frames and jars and guns and swords in different sizes and forms.

"What were you doing?" Granger demanded, looking down at them.

But Gusion was too busy standing up without moving his shoulders too roughly to answer. Granger bent down and helped Guinevere up.

Alucard entered the room, too, and looked around.

"What happened?" He asked calmly. "Did you two fight? With those injuries?" His voice was getting loud with every word.

But all Gusion could think was what would have happened if Granger didn't arrive, and he was confused whether to be annoyed by it or be thankful.

"No. We didn't." He answered, looking anywhere but her. He was racking his brain for any logical reason for him to do that. "Excuse me."

As he walked out of the weapons room and strolled along the hallway, he was frustrated that he couldn't think of any logical reason.

He ended going back at the infirmary, asking for something to reduce the pain in his broken ribs. It had been strained badly.

So he stayed in bed and impatiently stared around the boring sight of the room.

There were ten beds inside, and he was occupying the the third one on the right side. Bedside tables were between beds, and only his was filled with things. Other than those, the room had nothing else.

Gusion sighed, his mind unconsciously going back to what happened earlier.

Just thinking about it made him feel queasy in the stomach, the image of Guinevere's face so close was making his face grow hot.

The door suddenly slammed open as Granger stormed in with Guinevere in his arms, followed by the women in aprons and head dresses, looking alarmed.

He sat up and got off his bed. He headed towards them who laid Guinevere down the second bed on the left side.

"What happened?" Gusion asked as he came next to Granger, who was closing the drapes of the particular bed.

As if on cue, they heard Guinevere grunted loudly from inside.

Granger looked at him seriously. "Her dislocated arm seemed to have been strained again."

Gusion immediately felt guilty as he remembered himself pulling Guinevere's wrist earlier. He sighed in frustration.

"You shouldn't have let her go around the corridors when she isn't fully healed yet."

Granger grabbed him by the lapel and stared him down. "This isn't some place where we follow injured imperial families around until they heal."

"Where is she?" Rafaela came in just before Gusion could talk back. "What are you two doing?" She asked as she passed by them and got behind the drapes.

Granger let go of him with a push, but Gusion restrained his annoyance and retreated to his bed.

He watched as golden light beamed inside the drapes and Guinevere's grunts slowly turned weaker and weaker until they died down.

Only then was he able to lie in bed comfortably.

"How is she?" He asked when Rafaela came out and walked towards his direction.

"I was able to relieve the pain, but the injuries are yet to heal." She answered with a worried crease on her forehead. "I'm sorry I'm being useless to you right now."

Gusion sat up again. "You are a big help to us."

Rafaela looked down casted as she shook her head. Gusion figured out what had been different in her since she arrived in the infirmary earlier.

There was sadness and sorrow in the angel's eyes, her glow wasn't as bright as the first time they saw her. It was as if the pain healer couldn't drive her own pain away, and Gusion felt sorry for that.

"Just because you have the ability to heal doesn't mean it's your duty to banish every single pain in this place. Stop being guilty for every injuries this place gets."

Rafaela looked at him, her face surprised to what he had just said.

"So tend to your own pain and do not worry about us." Gusion lied back down and rolled to his side, his back facing Rafaela to dismiss the conversation.

Rafaela didn't say anymore words. Gusion merely heard the door close and it was his only sign the angel had left the room.

"Couldn't you say that a less harsher?" Guinevere's voice rang from behind the drapes of her own bed, surprising Gusion and making him look at it.

"Oh now you're up for an argument?" he spat, getting up and walking towards her.

He flung the drapes away, revealing Guinevere who was lying in her bed, her right arm laid properly over another pillow. She looked like the blood had drained from her face, and their was a crease between her brows.

Still she managed to give him a glare as soon as he came into view.

"I'm not going to argue with you."

"Why do you keep putting yourself in harm's way?" He scolded as he came at the side of her bed, planting his palms against its side to look down at her. "I thought you were smarter than that."

"Go back to your bed, Gusion." She muttered exhaustedly and faced the direction opposite from him.

"No. Look at me and tell me where all of these impulsiveness is coming from."

"I am allowed to make mistakes, ain't I?!" She snapped, sitting bolt upright and grimacing in pain.

"Lady Guinevere, you shouldn't--!"

"You people expect me to make the wisest decision, abide by the traditions and run away from danger just how ladies supposed to do!" She ranted. "But I can fight. I can protect myself and others! I am not as weak as all of you thought I am!"

"I never thought of you as weak!" He gushed, cutting off Guinevere's angry rants. "Who ever told you you're weak when you could blast anyone to pieces with just a flick of a hand? One thump and you send anyone knocked off helpless in the air. So lay yourself to rest and heal quick."

Gusion turned his back to her and got out of the drapes, reaching up to pull them around the bed.

"Thank you." Guinevere said before he could completely close it around her bed, her sudden calmness taking him aback. "For saving me. Several times...and for what you'd just said."

She caught his gaze, reminding him of how more beautiful they were up close. Her emerald green eyes seemed to stare right through his blue ones and straight to his thoughts, which would've been bad considering what the contents of his mind at the moment.

He nodded in response. "Good night, Lady Guinevere." Then he let the drapes conceal the lady inside.

"Good night..." Guinevere responded as he headed back to his bed, the long pause in her statement confusing him until she added, "Gusion Paxley."

Somehow, hearing her say his full name made him feel something again, just like earlier at the weapons room...something strange and ridiculous and confusing...

...like he wanted to become the Gusion Paxley again.